For The Love Of His Humanity
by dshell99
Summary: [The Alphas] Eddward's entire existence has predicated by other people. Will he give humanity a chance when his heart is on the line? (vampiric and other cryptids AU) Disclaimer: I don't own Ed, Edd N Eddy. I only own my OCs and plot. Rev!KevEdd belongs to Asphyxion
1. Fall

**Author's Note: Two years ago TODAY, I started writing love stories.**

 **This is my ONE HUNDRETH story about my two favorite boys.**

 **Let's fall in love _again, naturally,_ shall we?**

 ** _*here's to 100 more*_**

Eddward lay on the ground and moaned.

His right wing was killing him and as it was also his dominate arm, he couldn't move it in his current state, leaving him stuck on the ground and _vulnerable._

The distant voices he had been trying to avoid came closer, but one sounded too feminine to be one of the regular hunters of this part of the forest and that scared him even more.

He did his best to roll over and kick his feet to at least get under some of the underbrush and avoid the hunters and the soon coming sun, but his movements and panicked huffs and chirpy squeaks drew the humans closer.

The ground beneath him shook under their footsteps and while a tiny piece of him hoped that he was in the path of _help,_ his centuries of experience warned him otherwise.

"Nazz, I think they got it," he heard a deep voice say and a feminine groan let him know that even _these_ humans didn't want him to be in the state he was in, but he was still scared that this meant it was all over.

"Yeah, they did," the feminine voice said as she brushed the leaves he was trying to hide in out of the way, teal eyes growing sad at the pathetic sight of him, all of three pounds and a broken six foot wing span because his right wing had been clipped by the hunter's arrow making him take the tree limb he was trying to avoid harder than normal.

"Is it…?" The baritone voice asked, scared but slightly intrigued.

Teal locked with _red_ , but didn't blink and Eddward's _frozen._

 _"Yep,"_ the young blond said as she gently scooped him up. "We gotta get it out of here before Uncle Nave and them catch it."

"You're a _terrible_ huntress," the baritone chuckled and the blond shrugged as she tucked him away in her messenger bag.

"They've never hurt us," she said simply. "And as long as we stay out of their way and leave them something to eat, I don't see why we can't live in some peace and harmony."

"Fucking hippie."

"You like it."

"Meh."

The sway of the bag started to lull him to sleep, and feeling just safe enough to let the pain take him out, he barely registered the roar of a motorcycle taking him away from his _home._

* * *

When Eddward woke up, he was in a large bird cage, but in the dark corner of an otherwise sunlit room.

As he looked around, he saw that he was in bedroom of a young man, but the man didn't seem to share the space with anyone.

There were posters on the walls of various sleek, brightly colored fast vehicles and some prominent sports stars.

Books lined a few shelves, trophies lined others.

A motorcycle helmet was on the corner of the dresser, a leather jacket hanging on the door knob.

The bed wasn't made, but there weren't any clothes on the floor.

A closed laptop was on one of the nightstands.

A few pictures were taped to the dresser or tucked into the frame.

The same striking emerald eyed, redheaded young man was in most of them with various other people, the blond that rescued him last night playing a big role as the centerpiece of most of them, but considering there wasn't a feminine touch to the room he was in, he figured she was a just a friend or some close female relative.

While his weary body longed to be free from his primal state, he knew it was safer to just be where and how he was.

Thirst struck him like a wave as a cloud blew in front of the sun, dimming the light in the room and his eyes quickly adjusted as his keen sense of smell picked up _blood in the water._

He wasn't one for watered down snacks, but in his current state, he knew beggars couldn't be choosers.

Leaning over to take a sip from the small, shallow dish on the floor of the cage, his right wing _screamed_ at him, but after letting the drink settle in his empty belly, the pain went away.

But sleep once again took over as the roar of a motorcycle was once again heard in the distant and drew closer.

* * *

When Eddward opened his eyes again, the room was _dark_ , but warm.

He smelled food being cooked in another room, a TV was tuned to a basketball game, but music was being quietly played in the room he was in.

 _"Human conveniences,"_ he chuckled to himself.

But he came very much alive at the scent of fresh blood in bowl at the bottom of the cage, the watered down dish having had disappeared.

Hopping off the perch he was on, he carefully maneuvered himself to the back of the cage so he could drink, but still survey his surroundings.

He didn't get to be 220 years old turning his back on shit in random places.

 _"Deer. Doe, never mated. Nice,"_ he thought to himself as he sipped his breakfast, making note to see about getting some more stacked for winter soon.

A bright overhead light came on and he hissed at it as he shrank back further into the cage, despite the corner he was in still being very dark thanks to the long drapery hanging off the window frame blocking the light to the part of room he was in.

"Whoops," the deep voice said as the redheaded young man hurried to the nightstand closest to the door and turned on the small lamp on it.

A soft yellow light came from the lamp and the overhead light went off again.

Then tall, tan, tanned, freckled, Irish eyed, and fiery headed stood over him.

"You ok, Lil Dude?" He asked as he peered at Eddward and Eddward apologized to his late mother's soul for wanting to steal the one in front of him.

But all the other saw was sheepish red eyes and tiny dropped chin with a bit of dried up blood on it.

"Hmm," the redhead muttered to himself before snapping his fingers and walking out of the room but quickly returning with a medicine dropper, gauze, and medical tape.

"You gotta promise me you won't bite me," the redhead said seriously as he set the medical supplies on the bed and went in front of the cage again.

 _"Oh, I'll bite you alright,"_ Eddward thought as he eyeballed that strong neck that was _begging_ him to lay his mark on it. _"I will bite you so good."_

But all the other saw as a silly gapped tooth grin and eager nod.

"Ok, I'm just trying to help you, alright?" his nurse said as he opened the cage and Eddward hopped onto his outstretched wrist. "Nazz says you guys help keep the animals out of the neighborhood and don't bother anyone anymore, so I figure if I can get you back home, you'll not kill us or something."

He then went and sat on his bed and Eddward hopped into his lap and sucked in breath as the bandage on his wing was undone.

Large, slightly calloused hands felt over the wing before gently tugging on it.

A small whine escaped Eddward's throat and the green eyed one gave him an apologetic smile, a remorseful glint was in his eyes.

"Sorry, man," he sighed. "This is _definitely_ gonna hurt you more than it hurts me. Just as long as you don't bite me."

Eddward huffed but moved his wing a bit. It still hurt, but not nearly as much as it had the day before.

"Good, bad?" the tall one asked as he nodded then shook his head.

Eddward shrugged and Kevin snorted.

"Say, 'Ah,'" he snickered and Eddward rolled his eyes but did what he was told. "Rolf said this should help you."

At the name of the oldest shaman in his world and probably on the planet, Eddward nearly choked on the medicine the other was trying to get down his throat.

"Easy, Dude!" The ginger gasped as he did his best to wipe up what had dribbled on Eddward's chin and get it in his system.

Eddward quickly did as he was told but he couldn't believe this young man knew the one person Eddward trusted to help him out of _anything_.

The man's links between Heaven and Hell were astounding, his caring hand as gentle as a shepherd's, his knowledge; mind blowing.

There was only _one thing_ he couldn't do, but as far as Eddward was concerned, that was only because he hadn't figured out how yet.

And something told him that the one with the caring green eyes looking over him was the missing piece to the puzzle that had been blown to bits the day Eddy's brother blew a portal between Earth and Hell and stole the heart of his family from them all.

* * *

A timer beeping in the kitchen startled them both and Eddward was placed gently on the bed before his host hurried out of the room.

Eddward sighed before hopping off the bed and walking out of the room himself, keeping to the shadows.

As he looked around, he saw that the small space was an apartment for one and the redhead was its only occupant.

Worn furniture was scattered about, but everything had a place.

The midsized TV was on one wall on top of a small DVD player that sat on a small footlocker, stacks of DVDs, video games and a couple of gaming systems on the floor surrounding it.

An old couch with a small coffee table in the front of it was on the other wall, a giant PRIDE flag above it, with the Confederate cross crisscrossing the center of the flag, the words, _Love Not Hate_ were at the bottom of it.

 _"That's not how this works!"_ Eddward huffed to himself and the head of the house turned surprised eyes on him.

They stared at each other a bit before Eddward went back to looking around the room.

The kitchenette was to his right and a mess, but whatever the redhead was cooking smelled good.

A LazyBoy was already kicked back; the table next to it had an open beer on it.

Seeing the beer and smelling the food took him back to _home_ and he pouted a bit.

There was no way he was in any shape to get back home and once there, he knew he was in for the third degree from Ed and May.

And dear Lord, _Marie…_

He shuddered thoughts of his crazy ex who was also his most very best friend away when the redhead stooped in front of him.

"If you're feeling good enough to walk around, I'll keep your wing undone so you can stretch it a bit more, ok?"

Eddward nodded and did a test flap on his wing, but quickly pulled it back because it just hurt too much.

"You were out for like three days, Dude," he said as he stood up. "So you're gonna be stiff for a few days."

At these words, Eddward swooned a bit.

 _Three days…_

Only the Goddess herself knew what his family and friends were up to at this point.

* * *

He was only supposed to be gone for two days to survey the area.

With All Hallows approaching, they knew that many young people would be in their area to see if they could spot them and other cryptid creatures that balanced out the spiritual plane between Heaven and Hell.

But that also meant that _hunters_ were out as well.

For many millennia, man would push the edge between the spiritual planes to etch out his control over the space he had no business in.

Seeing that creatures that controlled the points to the great beyond were much stronger, swifter, and many times as deadly as anything on earth, man would back off, but come back in stronger numbers.

The only thing that kept things in place was a bond between those that respected the dark creatures need for space and their brand of policing.

Rolf was the man to go to for Eddward and his family and friends.

And apparently this young man who was caring for him was another.

Still, he had been gone a full business week. And that's not good for business.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, prayed for strength, and then sent out a message.

 _I'm fine but the Lemon Brook district is not. Fall back. Security at Peach Creek should be doubled._

 _Immediately,_ he got a response.

 _Of red hair?_

 _Yes. How -?_

 _Thought so. Stay put. We're safe. Soon._

 _Understood._

When he opened his eyes again, his host was sitting in the LazyBoy and looking exasperated.

"KU is up by 15 as we head into the second half," the man on the TV was saying and the ginger rolled his eyes.

"Who's fucking idea was it to send us to the Big 12?!" He yelled before diving into his stew.

Eddward chuckled as he walked back into the bedroom and _squeaked_ when he saw his reflection in the mirror hanging on the bathroom door.

"Oh, yeah!" the other called to him. "They don't make them out of silver anymore!"

Eddward looked at his reflection again and frowned.

He had known _exactly_ when they stopped making mirrors with silver coatings because his mother put them all over the castle.

He had never seen himself in his bat form, though, and wasn't all that thrilled with what he saw.

His father had always stood tall and distinguished; his form in the sky and in the trees was dark and foreboding.

His mother, although smaller, absolutely glowed, her white coat taking to the dark skies like a ghost, frightening humans senseless.

And Edd…

Fucking shit, he was _adorable._

Small, damn near cuddly with large red eyes and a silly grin.

He was a bastion to bringing more humans to their side, his way with them gentle and his boyish looks disarming.

 _And then…_

He shook his head and stood up straighter.

He was as tall as his father, he was sure of it. His glow, like Edd's, had come from their mother. But he'd never have her or Edd's gaze, which was just as well.

 _Not everything deserved to be looked at with rosy eyes._

He'd never be as cold as his father, though.

 _"You'll always have her spirit,"_ Marie would tell him when he was torn between hope and reality.

And some reason, just being where he was, right now, strengthened his hope.

In what, he couldn't quite place his wing tip on, but he knew he would soon.

* * *

After his host had finally gone to bed, he wandered around the apartment some more.

He left him with a few dishes of doe blood around in small places he could hop up or walk to.

There was one under the coffee table that was just watered down blood, water, and medicine, but his throbbing arm said he had to deal with a few sips every now and again.

When an alarm went off just as dusk started to break through and Eddward found himself staring longingly at the large bed his host was in.

Not necessarily to join him, no matter how nice that would have been, but to _sleep_ like he was _literally_ _dying_ to at the moment.

The problem was, there wasn't a dark spot on the bed, and the sun was steadily rising.

When hazy green eyes looked down at him, they ran the emotional gamut of scared, stunned, and apologetic.

"OH!" The redhead said as he sprang out of bed, swopped Eddward up and put him back in his cage in the dark corner. "I'm gonna leave the door open, because I don't know when I'll be back today, but I'll put some food in here and on the floor for you if you think you can test that wing out. Capice?"

Eddward nodded wearily, barely opening his eyes when the other tapped a medicine dropper to his mouth.


	2. Rise

When Eddward opened his eyes again, it was once again dark outside, but the room he was in was warm, the light on the nightstand casting a yellow hue about the room.

Instinct took over as he hopped off his perch and took a drink of the fresh blood in the cage, and when he came to his senses, he _squeaked_ when he saw his beanie, black zip up hoodie, a red tshirt, black skinny jeans, grey Converse with the red laces, and his dogtags neatly piled on the bed.

He cursed his comfort levels for the place he was in and focused on the natural voices in the space.

"So he _is_ a vampire?" His host was asking.

"Yes," Rolf replied, "but there's more to it than that."

"HOW!?" The redhead exclaimed and he heard the girl who rescued him giggling.

"Dude, maaaaan, this place is _full_ of all kinds of things," she said. "Werewolves, witches, -"

 _"Mutants,"_ the redhead said mockingly.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far," Rolf sighed. "But there are things out there that keep things as they should be"

"And he's one of those _things?"_

"He's their leader."

Eddward felt as if the air was sucked out of the room and wanted to throttle Rolf, but knew that the only reason why he was there was because of him and they needed each other so he'd have to wait til later to give him the whatfor he felt he deserved for _exposing_ him to a _human._

A very nice, easy on the eyes, helpful _human._

* * *

He walked out of the room and straight up to the tall, blue haired shaman, who was sitting on the coffee table, playing around with one of the controls to one of the gaming systems on the floor.

And kicked him in the shin.

"OW!" Rolf huffed as he rubbed his leg. "And hello to you, too, Eddward."

Eddward gave him an annoyed look, but Rolf wasn't fazed.

Setting the controller down, he grabbed Eddward's wings and pulled them out to their full wingspan.

 _*SNAP*_

The pain that coursed through him was _searing,_ the screech that left his mouth had the girl and his host throwing their hands over their ears, but Rolf held his stance.

A few moments later, he pulled his wings back out of Rolf's hands and the shaman stood, an _order_ in his brown eyes and Eddward nodded.

They walked to the backdoor just off the kitchen, and Eddward hopped onto the ledge of the small deck as Rolf said a few words in a language only the shaman understood.

The winds picked up, and just like his mother taught him, he let the breeze flow over him and then whisk him away.

Shooting up into the night sky above the artificial light of downtown Peach Creek, he headed straight for the full moon, letting the spirit of the dark orb renew him before heading back.

* * *

When he got back inside, Rolf was beside himself with excitement.

"Thank Heaven's your back! We've got work to do!"

Eddward looked at him curiously, but knew he couldn't or say much of anything in his current state and did not feel like getting into the hyped up shaman's head at the moment.

Shrugging, he went to the bedroom and Rolf quickly closed the door behind him as he ordered, "Young Nazz," to get her _things_ to bring peace to the land again.

He flew onto the bed because he wanted his transformation to be as comfortable as possible when he was done.

Knocking his clothes off the bed, he laid down and _stretched._

His mind zapped every nerve ending that had been asleep for the better part of a week awake and he groaned in so much pain that his host ran to the door to come check on him, but _couldn't._

As bone, muscles, and nerves crawled and snapped their way back into place down his long form, and his old clothes fell away and disintegrated into nothing, he found comfort in the light part of his mind where his hope lay because he knew that as long as he could _feel_ _him_ there, things would be alright.

* * *

When he came back to himself, the messages started to crawl back in.

 _We're on the edge of Peach Creek._

 _Quiet all around, Big Dee._

 _Lemon Brook is dark. Security doubled._

 _The hearth glows again…_

Every year for the past fifty years he had searched for a way to make things right again, but the glow from the center of the forest would always draw in humans trying to figure out what was going on in the middle of nowhere, and he would be busy moving family and friends alike away to protect them from the humanity they were entrusted to protect.

So many leads were lost in that time, but Rolf said that each piece was leading _somewhere_ , he just couldn't be sure where, so he kept up hope as it was all he had.

* * *

When he stepped out of the bedroom, shocked green eyes took him in and he couldn't help himself.

Holding out his hand to the stunned young man in the LazyBoy, he grinned and said, "Hello, my name is Eddward Marion Rockwell. And I won't bite unless you ask me nicely and say pretty please."

"Uh, Kev-Kevin!" The redhead said as he firmly shook his hand. "Kevin Barr."

"Thank you for all your help, Kevin," he said sincerely. "I don't think I'd lasted out there without you."

A cocky smirk crossed Kevin's face and he shrugged.

"That's what they tell me," he said and Eddward snatched his hand away with a bit of a glare.

 _"Anyways,"_ he sighed. "Where's my shaman?"

"Took off with Nazz," Kevin said as he stood up. "But he told me to take you to his place once you were ready to go."

"Then let's move," Eddward said as he briskly walked to the door.

* * *

Kevin was grateful that the roads to Rolf's farm were dry as they were too narrow for his truck and the walk from the main road to the house wouldn't have done them a bit of good because it would have been sunrise by the time they made it and Eddward would have to sleep.

Eddward was apprehensive of his Harley at first, but a tense look crossed his face as the winds shifted and he snatched the spare helmet from Kevin and told him to get a move on.

They were at Rolf's in no time, and a small bald boy climbed him like a tree to hug him when he saw him.

"What happened, Dude?!" He screeched as he clung to the tall raven like a koala.

"Hunters, Johnny," Eddward sighed as he gently patted his back and looked over the maps Rolf had pulled out.

"Fucking eh, man," Johnny sighed as he wiggled down off his tall friend. "What do you want us to do?"

Eddward looked at Rolf, who looked at Kevin, who looked at Nazz, who laughed and said, "What are you looking at me for?!"

"Why is everyone staring at _me?!"_ Kevin retorted.

"You're the missing piece to get _them_ back," Rolf said confidently and Eddward _reeled._

 _"WHAT?! HOW?!"_

"As you are a Marion-Rockwell, and Edd is a Marion-Vincent, Kevin here is an Anderson-Barr, of sorts."

 _"Of sorts?"_ Eddward asked tensely, feeling like he was on edge of losing yet again.

"Unlike _your_ family, his mother gave him his own middle name, not a _family_ one," Rolf explained. "He's Kevin _Anthony_ Barr, not Kevin _Anderson_ Barr. But that doesn't matter because the Kevin Anderson we need is already there."

"Again," Eddward sighed, _"what?!"_

"The only reason why we haven't been able to pull him back, yet, is because _this_ Kevin's missing cousin is there with him. We can't pull one without the other."

"WHY NOT?!" Eddward screamed, giving no fucks about _anyone else's_ missing _anything._

"Something must of happened when they left because they are now _bonded_ , Eddward, that has to be the reason we haven't been able to get him back yet. We can't pull one without the other," Rolf said seriously as he grabbed the tall vampire by his shoulders. "We _need_ Kevin here."

"But how do you know it's _him?_ " Eddward asked, his hope waning like it always did when they tried to pull Edd out of _Hell._

"Did some research," Johnny said as he dumped a box of newspapers on the table Rolf had his maps strewn on. "This guy looks like this dork's tall ass twin," he giggled as he pointed toan annoyed Kevin. "I _know_ I saw Double Dee with him the day he went missing and when I saw this guy with Nazz talking about a hurt bat, I had to look up some stuff to be sure. Terry always said that his _blessings_ doubled that day," he went on as he pulled out newspaper after newspaper that headlined a missing person's case from fifty years ago. "We always thought it was because he got _Double Dee,_ not that he got _two people."_

"That's my cousin!" Kevin exclaimed as he saw all the pictures of the young man that looked _just like him_ , if he was short and stuck in the sixties as some Pointdexter. "He's the reason Ma hates me coming out there."

"You rebel," Nazz snorted as she looked the newspapers over.

The articles listed a Kevin Anderson, 17, who went missing after the Peach County All Hallows Festival. He was last seen with a friend, a blue eyed, dark haired male, who wore a black beanie with two white stripes and went by Double Dee or Edd.

"Is _Kevin_ a family name?" Eddward snarked at Rolf but before the shaman could say anything, Kevin snarked back, "Yes. It. Is. And he was my Ma's favorite big cousin."

"Then let's make them both proud," Eddward said as he eyed the _Battle Table_ across the room that was a replica of the forest he called home, his hope for winning _the war_ rising.


	3. Fight

Kevin looked around the room and sighed.

There was no way in Heaven or Hell that this group of misfits was getting _anyone_ out of _anywhere, let alone a portal to fucking HELL._

He stole a glance to his best friend who was giggling as she polished the sword she usually only had on display in her room. The blue haired girl laughing with her gave him the heebee jeebees.

A squirrelly looking guy talking to Eddward seemed so defeated and they hadn't even begun, thus Kevin's hope waning, no matter how excited the tallest dork in the room was to get _his Double Dee_ back.

Another blond and two redheads organized potions under the watchful eye of a weak looking blond boy who was hanging off the smallest redhead like she was his lifeline or something.

 _Or something, indeed…_

And Johnny was weirding him out with his prayers at an altar to a simple piece of wood with a goofy face.

A clock chiming twelve times brought everyone attention to the small grandfather clock on the wall.

And in an _instant_ , every misfit in the room _changed._

Eddward was the first to the barn door, a shriek shooting out of him and the doors flew open, the tallest dork as the biggest werewolf Kevin had _ever_ seen, leading the way.

A small fox darted between the werewolf's large paws.

Three witches were in the sky, an orange tabby with a white mouse on her head on the bristles of the blue haired witch's _classic ride._

A hawk was perched on Rolf's shoulder as he pulled his black stallion out of her stable.

"LET'S GO!" Nazz called to him from his Harley and Kevin took off after the strange group of creatures of the night.

* * *

Rolf led Kevin and Nazz through the dark forest, the hawk that was on his shoulder was now in the air sending back calls that only Rolf's steed understood.

The terrain was rough, but the Harley didn't miss a beat.

And as the night drew on, instead of getting _colder,_ it grew warmer as the forest got denser, thicker, and creepy as fuck.

When they got to where everyone else was, it was hotter than the Fourth of July, but Kevin's blood was running _Arctic cold._

"Please tell me you have your rosary?," Nazz asked suddenly as she dismounted the bike and pulled out her sword.

 _"Always,"_ Kevin told her. "Why?!"

With a strength he never knew she had, she shoved him to the front of the group, but the heat knocked him to his knees.

A heartbreaking scream made him raise his head and he saw Eddward standing next to him, angry tears falling down his face like rain as he stared into the fiery hole in front of them .

"GIVE HIM BACK!"

"COME AND GET HIM," a _dark_ voice called back and the fox bounded over Kevin's back and into the portal that suddenly appeared in front of him.

An instant later, the fox was back, singed, but otherwise unhurt.

"I WANT _YOU,"_ the voice said again and a grin crossed Rolf's face as he kicked Kevin into the portal.

"Whoopsie," the shaman shrugged as a _hellish_ scream erupted from the portal and Eddward screamed himself.

 _"WHOOPSIE?!"_

"Rosary, my dude!" Nazz squealed and the grin that crawled across Eddward's face could have lit up the sun.

"I'll be right back!" He called to his friends after he went after _hope._

* * *

When Kevin hit the ground, he looked up to see dark spirits shrieking and slinking away from him but they headed to the surface to fight for freedom from their eternal torment.

Tiny fires here and there were the only light and warmth in the place but it all still felt so _very, very cold_.

Considering where he was was a dead end of sorts, he moved forward, hoping to find a way out and his cousin and the _Double Dee_ everyone was hoping to _get back_.

He distantly heard his name being called, but knew he couldn't turn back, so he ignored it and pressed ahead.

When a cool hand grabbed his right arm, he turned to _fight,_ only to see Eddward standing there clasping his hand close to his chest.

"Where's your rosary?" The vampire hissed, eyes _black._

He gingerly pulled out the blessed piece of jewelry that was tied to his wrist and Eddward growled.

"Sorry, but I don't go _anywhere_ in this creepy ass town without it," Kevin shrugged, his family's stories of God's protection from things going bump in their haunted town's dark nights making him too scared to let the beaded chain go.

"Good idea," Eddward grinned. "But let me do the work from here on out," he winked as he led the way deeper into the dark, bone chilling hole they were in.

* * *

Kevin didn't know how long they were down there, or how far down they had gone, but just as soon as he was ready to call it quits, they found them.

Half dead animal and human carcasses surrounded them, but they couldn't move to get them as they were chained to the wall.

A stake was driven through Edd's chest; any move would just _barely_ scrape his heart, making him cry out.

Kev would weakly hold his wrist to the ravenette's mouth, grimacing in pain as he did so because the chain to his wrist was just barely long enough for him to give his lover a drink of the one thing that sustains us all, even though it dripped from the ceiling like acid rain.

The stake was what gave the two alphas the most pause as it glowed a _brilliant_ shade of _silvery blue,_ not unlike Eddward's eyes.

 _"Okay,"_ Eddward said lowly as he took the situation in and turned to look at the only untouched person in the place. "Kevin, I'm gonna need your help."

 _"Anything,"_ Kevin said, eager to get out of this _Hell._

"I need you to press your cross to every chain on them to break them."

Kevin moved fast and Eddward caught their two relatives as they fell.

Edd sucked eagerly on Eddward's offered wrist, his weak heart growing stronger with each drop.

"Now what?!" Kevin asked as hellish screaming started to draw down on them and thunderous hooves were overhead.

Eddward's eyes had gone from black, to red, to their natural ice blue as his brother drained his cold life sustaining force from him and came back from _undead_ to _vampire._

But the older vampire was beyond lost because the stake in his baby brother could kill him if they removed it and he just wasn't counting on _this._

 _"I…I DON'T KNOW!"_ He cried, scared shitless for the first time in fifty years and he had to tell his parents that _he_ lost his brother on the one night that the darkside of the forest could roam freely with humanity.

His mother dropped dead on the spot, his father's slow descent to his permanent grave took ten more years, and took out a cul-de-sac in such a ferocious blaze of glory that it made a certain branch of vampire hunters swear off the practice forever.

And now that he's where he can _finally_ make it right, he just _can't_ because the one person he had the _nerve, the absolute gall_ to actually stand up to as a mere child for bullying a defenseless human for no other reason than he felt that he _could_ was going to hold the very thing he loved more than himself in Hell _forever_ for it.

"Maybe I can be of assistance?"

They all snapped their heads to Kevin Anderson, and Edd grinned.

"Yes, Love?"

"L-Lie st-still," Kev stuttered before his hazel eyes turned red and drew all the bones around them to himself.

He then fashioned a surgical hand of sorts to pull the stake out, while the rest of the bones packed around it, protecting Edd's heart and body from the sudden movement that was bound to kill him.

The smol redhead groaned as he moved his creation with his mind and Edd screamed as his body was set free from its deadly metal prison.

But as the stake hit the ground, the place started to come apart.

"RUN!" Eddward screamed as he picked up his brother, tossed Kevin his cousin, and shot out of the place like a _literal bat out of hell_.

* * *

The howl of a forlorn wolf reached Kevin's ears mere moments later and next thing he knew, he was flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him, Nazz sobbing in his chest, thanking God that he was alive.

He could only groan while her hands roughly checked him over.

"I'm _fine,_ Nazz," he told her, but his words fell on deaf ears while prayers of praise fell on Jesus'.

Once _she_ was satisfied that he was ok and she scampered away to check on Eddward, he looked his _relative_ over.

"H-How much tr-trouble am I in?" Kev asked as he looked the spitting image of their grandfather in his face.

"Maaaaan, that's between you and Ma," Kevin sighed as he held out a hand to help him up. "But welcome back."

"Thank Plank," Kevin heard Johnny sigh and he turned to see four Eds in a dog pile, a wiggly fox in the middle yipping excitedly until Rolf shoved a jawbreaker in his face to shut him up.

The yips were silenced, but Kevin could see that a love that had been lost had been found and would now grow again.

Just like the werewolf's happy tail wags.


	4. AcknowlegEdd

Three tiny taps are heard at the backdoor and Kevin snorted.

"You know, I can just give you a key and you can let yourself in like a normal person," he said as he opened the door and Eddward walked inside the dimly lit kitchen, taking a long stretch in the living room to resume his human form before looking through Kevin's DVDs.

"And let the _neighbors_ see?" The raven grinned at his host in the kitchen. "I think not!"

"Yes, because me randomly opening my backdoor doesn't raise eyebrows," Kevin retorted as he stirred his stew.

 _"Oh."_

 _"Uh, huh,"_ the redhead sighed _loudly_. _"Anyways,_ I got some buck I thought you might like, _Jesus fricking Christ, Eddward!"_

Kevin had turned to see his visitor suddenly behind him and even though it had been nearly a year since they had met, Eddward still could shake him up now and again with how fast he could move.

"As long as it's red, I don't care," Eddward _smiled_ and Kevin wanted to dump the whole pitcher of blood on his snarky ass head. "I can also read your mind."

"Get _the fuck_ outta my damn head, Edd!" Kevin hissed as he walked to the counter to pull down the special glass Rolf gave him for Eddward's drinks.

"How else am I supposed to know what's going on with you?!" Eddward whined as he watched Kevin pour him a glass of the young buck Nazz caught a few weeks ago with greedy red eyes.

"You could ask!"

"Nah. That's boring and human's lie."

"Have I _ever_ lied to you?"

Eddward shot him a look as he sipped his drink and Kevin gave him one of his cocky ass grins.

* * *

Nazz may have not known much about how to _hunt_ vampires, but she knew plenty about how to get along with them and she taught Kevin _everything_ she knew.

Tell the truth.

Be prepared for _anything and everything_.

Eat your veggies, drink plenty of water, and get plenty of rest.

Kevin could have sworn it was like dealing with a child, but it _worked._

Eddward knew who he was in and out and while Kevin didn't know _everything_ about Eddward, he was willing to learn.

And in Eddward's now 221 years on the planet, there was _a lot_ to learn.

Sometimes it was all fresh and new because even Eddward had forgotten things he once knew; sometimes it seemed old bag to the vampire, but he indulged Kevin's curiosity.

But what really bonded them was bringing Kev back to _the real world_.

* * *

Relationships in Edd and Eddward's world were as it suited the people involved in the relationship.

While homosexual relationships didn't produce children, there were no real shortages of those willing to bear children and help their friends and family expand their numbers safely and happily.

Shaman and witches would create the elixirs that helped carry the otherworldly embryos to term and were there to bring the children into the world.

That was _normal_ to Kevin, but it absolutely _shocked_ Kev.

His _friendship_ with Edd was always looked at _oddly_ as they were _very close_ friends when they disappeared.

Many blamed his disappearance on the small vampire, especially after no one reported him missing as well. And while it was true that who he was played a part in how and why they were stolen away away, it was _Kev_ who chose to stay.

He cared too deeply for his friend to lose him to a thin skinned Hell Spawned Demon.

* * *

But as Edd waned in their hellish prison, Kev sacrificing himself to keep Edd alive while Terry teased them with all they could ever want to eat as long as they joined his fight to bring the cryptids power to bear on humanity, showed Eddward that this family that inadvertently befriended his own, was part and parcel as to why there was still some good left in humanity.

So while Eddward started to trust Kevin's lead in bringing Kev up to speed on how the world worked, that didn't mean he didn't occasionally fall into _very old_ habits from time to time.

And Kevin started to learn more about the way of life that was second nature to his dark haired friend.

The weird sleep schedule and dietary requirements were nothing compared to his sneaky ability to be in places Kevin never expected him to be in.

His effectiveness at finding safe houses at a moment's notice for a small country's worth of people in their area would put FEMA to shame.

Edd and Eddward's diplomacy between their parents' clans, let alone lording over the other cryptids in their world because of _tradition,_ made Kevin wonder if Terry didn't have a point about letting the cryptids be in charge.

Then Eddy would go and do something _stoopid_ and the Kanker witches would be ready to turn him into a taxidermy doorstop, and Kevin was glad they all kept to themselves because humanity just wouldn't be able to deal with the _shenanigans_ for all of eternity.

* * *

While Kev was essentially Edd's ghoul, as ageless as his host, but also dependent upon him for _everything,_ the care that made him offer himself up as such in the first place was the only thing that kept Edd, and Eddward for that matter, from killing him now that he was no longer really _needed._

Kev had taken Edd's explanation of who he was and why Terry had stolen them away with analytical mind and a terrified heart.

No one knew where they were or how they got there and by the time they figured it out, no one could draw them out without a bit of extra help.

Johnny may be a goofy one, but his hawk like eyes and mind, along with just waiting for the right time, pushed things in the right direction.

A family's prayers had been answered, but God works in mysterious ways.

* * *

Kev lived with Edd and Eddward in the high hills that surrounded their small town, his simple communications to his family always of his happiness at being out of Hell and with his friend and his wishes that they stay safe.

Kevin would occasionally visit and bring back updates on Kev's new life as best he could to his near disbelieving family.

If Kevin's father's childhood home wasn't destroyed forty years ago during a hunter's fight with a _bat_ that was lost and dying from God knows what, he was sure that no one would have believed any of the stories he had now about his new friends, let alone their cousin.

* * *

"Ok, so you haven't lied to me," Eddward snipped after taking a sip of some of the best buck he's had in _decades_. "But there's a first time for everything. Where did you get this?"

"Nazz went out with her cousins to the hills near Lemon Brook Lake. She said there's a ton of food out that way because you guys moved away last year and the numbers bounced back."

"Speaking of…"

Kevin caught ice blue eyes looking sadly into his glass and his heart started to pound in his chest.

"Don't do that," Eddward said nervously before taking a large drink to quell the desire running through his veins.

"Can't help it when you look like that!" Kevin said frantically, a hand over his heart and hurt in his eyes. "What's going on, Edd?"

* * *

His name was a family one. But as the eldest child, he was to rule the Rockwell clan as his father had, any other children, his mother's Vincent's.

Nearly everyone called his brother Edd or Double Dee, while he was to remain Eddward at their father's insistence.

 _"Respect the name, respect the man,"_ he would say, and he was right.

Kevin always called Edd, Lil Dee or just Dee, but he was Eddward unless they were in private.

To be _Edd_ took some of the pressure of his life's work off his shoulders.

He could be himself and a bit carefree.

And right now, he wants nothing more than to be carefree, but he can't be because things are _changing_ again.

* * *

"We're moving again. Well, _I am."_

"What?! Why?!"

"Because Edd wants to marry _your cousin._ As such that leaves my brother with life partner and no longer in need of my _help_. Per our laws, after the wedding, he retains this area and I'm taking the Rockwell's back home."

"Where…Where to?" Kevin asked, scared that he'd never see him again.

"Cherry Pines."

"THE MOUTAINS, EDD?!"

"Lower your voice, Kevin," Eddward said lowly, his usually dark irises glowing a bit red, but Kevin shook him off and stormed into the living room to throw himself on the couch.

The flag above it fluttered a bit and Eddward felt sick.

Kev, upon learning how the Civil Rights Movement went down with Black Americans and how the gay rights movement came behind it and then along side it, bought his cousin a new flag that made a bit more sense to Eddward.

It was still the PRIDE flag, but instead of the Confederate cross, the Gadsden rattlesnake was in the middle of it with the words, _Don't Tread On Me_ across the bottom of it.

It made more sense because Kev felt that their rights for living how they wanted and loving who they loved shouldn't be treaded upon.

Yet, in this moment, Eddward felt like he's crushed Kevin's _everything._

"I'm not leaving for _at least_ another two months," he said as he slinked out of the dark kitchen and into the dimly lit living room, feeling terrible that his way of life was disrupting Kevin's again.

Simple things like turning the lights down after the sun set made him feel comfortable in Kevin's space, and it downright delighted him to see the tall redhead make the effort for him despite him not really having a reason to.

 _Or did he..._

Kevin rolled over to glare at him and the stare pricked his at feelings a bit.

"You can come to the changing ceremony."

"The _what?!"_

"Because they're getting married, Kev wants to go through the ritual to fully become one of us now. Although, I honestly think Edd only wants to marry him because he's willing to do that in the first place," Eddward said thoughtfully.

"I'll pass," Kevin shuddered as he sat up and looked at Eddward's feet.

How the 6'3 vampire went from tall human to large bat with adorable bat feet creeped him out and intrigued him. But there was no way he could handle his still slightly human cousin becoming truly undead.

"Then the wedding? You _know_ they both want you there. And any other family you think could handle it," Eddward suggested softly, just trying to buy _them_ more time.

"I'll talk to Ma," Kevin nodded seriously and Eddward held back from hopping in his head to see who else he had in mind for the event.

It wasn't _his_ wedding, so there was no need for him to really know or care who showed up. Everyone would be properly vetted by Rolf and Nazz beforehand anyways.

"Can we watch Baby's Day Out again?"

"Where did you even find that one?!" Kevin laughed as he went to turn the DVD player on.

"A CVS DVD bargain bin back in 2003," Eddward shrugged.

"How did you get into CVS?!"

"Funny story that…"


	5. LovEdd

"Look at you!" Kevin grinned when Eddward came down the stairs of the dimly lit hilltop castle and the raven stopped to stare at the group of guests in his _sanctuary_.

Kevin had on a basic black tux, but a green tie per Kev's request, and the rest of their Irish clan was decked out in kilts, green dresses, and simple grey or black suits with green ties, with emerald jewelry in ears, and on necks and wrists.

For _humans,_ they cleaned up well.

But he had to wear his tux with tails, formal cape, and a blue sash held in place by his late mother's diamond and sapphire teardrop brooch.

And no beanie.

Just long, wavy _black_ hair tied up in a low ponytail that Marie told him if he fussed with she'd hack off his hands.

He knew he looked overdressed, but Kevin was looking at him like he was some kind expected _prize._

"Hello, everyone," he said as he reached the landing in the middle of the stairs. "Welcome to Castle Rockwell. If you would follow these three lovely ladies, they'll take you to the ceremony room."

The group turned to see the Kanker sisters standing behind them in formal black Victorian gowns, and Lee led the group through a set of open doors that were hidden in the wall, down a candlelit hallway to a small round room where Nazz was waiting with her fellow non hunting family members, Rolf, and the rest of the betrothed couple's friends.

"Kevin!"

Kevin turned to see Eddward hurrying down the stairs towards him and Marie quickly grabbed his wrist as Eddward took off out of the door Kevin and his family had just come in.

* * *

"He says he wants to see you before the ceremony," Marie explained as Eddward took to his bat form and flew through the castle to the wing Kevin knew the three young men lived in regularly.

Recently, however, it took on more of a décor that was suited to Edd and Kev's taste and Kevin's heart started to _ache._

Eddward would probably leave the castle first thing tomorrow evening and who knows when he'd see him again.

Knowing Eddward could hear him thinking, he decided to reach out to him but got nothing but the roar of the wind in his ears as Marie drug him through the halls.

* * *

When they reached Kev's dressing room, Kevin was _stunned_ at who he saw on the other side.

His cousin's dorky looks were still prominent in the way he carried himself, but there was an air about him that you couldn't knock off of him without some supernatural help.

Knowing that their greatest enemy wouldn't bother them anymore as Rolf, Nazz, and the Kanker sisters had sealed off the portal, Kevin was sure that his cousin would now finally be able to rule his world like he deserved.

Didn't mean he couldn't believe it was happening.

"Eddward and Marie said you wanted to see me?" He said as he stepped into the dark, but warm room, and the door silently closed behind him.

"Yes," the smaller one sighed. "You're an idiot."

"What?!"

"But I won't leave him hanging. He's going to be my brother now and I need someone to keep an eye on him, especially since Marie has to stay here," Kev went on as he pulled a box out of a trunk and then some papers out of the dresser drawer.

"Wait, what?!" Kevin said in surprise. "Why is Marie staying here?!"

"The sisters are moving to Lemon Brook," Kev said simply. "Ed and Eddy are staying here as is Rolf and Johnny. Jimmy and Sarah are wonderful eyes and ears and fantastic potionists, but Eddward needs… _more,"_ he nodded as he piled the papers in the box and handed it to Kevin. "Give them a week to settle in. In the meantime, I want you to study this box like your life depends upon it. But not til after I get _my Edd."_

"What? Are we collecting dorks now?" Kevin scoffed as he followed after his cousin.

 _I'm not a dork!_

 _Get out of my head, you two!_

But only one dork really _left…_

* * *

A week later, Kevin raised a shaking hand to the large doorknocker on the heavy polished oak door in front of him, really wanting to knock Nazz out for tittering at him.

When the door opened, he was genuinely surprised to see who was on the other side.

"Hey, Stud," Marie cooed to him before skipping back into the large castle hideaway. "Eddward! Kevin's here!"

"HE'S WHAT?!"

* * *

Eddward sighed as he stared at the box Kevin had placed on the coffee table between them.

 _"Oh, Mother…"_

"Listen, man," Kevin said softly, "she was only trying to look out for you."

"I know, but _still."_

* * *

Aubrey Marion Vincent-Rockwell had orders drawn up after Edd was born that Eddward would take the Rockwell's back to Cherry Pines after he or Edd had taken on life partners, per her husband's orders, but that before he left, he would ask the von Bartonschmeer's to accompany him to the family's original home as protection.

A long standing friendship with Margot von Bartonschmeer let Aubreysee a bright side of humanity, despite so many wanting to kill her because of stereotypes about who she was.

Margot never judged her, treated her like anyone else, helped her when she could, and was a generally decent person.

Margot was _devastated_ when Edd disappeared and downright _heartbroken_ when she got word that Aubrey died from the sheer shock of losing her baby boy.

She tried in vain to protect her late friend's husband from her brother's fiery pitchfork when the man, weak from grief and hunger, came into her quiet cul-de-sac looking for food and a quiet place to rest, not unlike the Rockwell's own ghoul hideaway in the quiet valley their castle stood over.

She excommunicated herself from her family, then taught her son, who taught his daughter, Nazz, the healing end of what they did. But instead of healing other hunters, they'd help _anyone_ who needed it.

Nazz was beyond excited to take a position in the Rockwell's sacred guard, but only if Eddward would have her.

Kevin thought it would be a good idea to help smooth the idea over with the man, and came with her to present his late mother's case.

* * *

"Listen, I'm gonna tell you like Ma told me after Dad left because she wouldn't let him toss me out for being gay, ' _we all need a little help, so let me help you.'"_

"But _you're_ not a von Bartonschmeer," Eddward grinned and he clasped his cheek in mock hurt when he caught the visual of Kevin wanting to slap him for being a smart ass.

"Semantics," Kevin deadpanned and Eddward chuckled.

"But it _does_ say here that if the von Bartonschmeer's accept their new roles, that they will be granted any needed assistance," Eddward said as he looked over the piece of the order that listed the Rockwell's duties to their new vanguard.

"Yeah," Kevin snorted. "She's on my ass to stay if you don't mind."

"I don't."

Kevin cocked a brow at his quick answer and then he _saw it._

 _Sheepish eyes and a silly gapped tooth grin._

"I'll let her know," he smirked, before heading to door, tossing a tiny sway to his hips to give the icy blue eyes boring holes in his ass something to _think_ about. "You can go home now, ya hag," he told Marie as soon as he opened the door to the study he and Eddward were in and the blue haired Kanker stuttered a bit before giving Eddward a questioning look.

"I'll be fine," the raven said quietly and she pouted slightly before giving Kevin a hard look and saying, "Mind your shit, Red."

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin said as he brushed past her to go tell Nazz she got the job of a lifetime.

* * *

Marie hurried into the study and closed the door behind her with a slam and Eddward rolled his eyes.

"He's _human."_

"I don't care."

"And what are you gonna do in fifty years when he's gone?"

"I…I don't know…"

She had loved him since she was a child and he was the quiet, dutiful son being raised to rule their little corner of the world.

He was stately, distinguished; she, a witch, wild and carefree, the world her oyster.

Opposites that attracted, but the physical attraction faded over the course of a century, leaving them with a bond that nothing could honestly break.

But she worried.

 _He had his mother's spirit._

And in its easily whipped around state, she hoped he wouldn't get caught up in something _temporary_ when his state of life was _permanent._

 _"Eddward."_

Scared blue met pensive violet and she sighed.

"Look, I think he likes you, too, but just be careful. Please."

A high pitched squeal in the hall brought them back to the issue at hand and they quickly resumed their roles to their human friends.


	6. Eternity

_"God, you're old,"_ Kevin snickered and Eddward wanted to shake him.

"You're 22, why can't I be?!"

"I'm 22 in _human years_ , ya dork!" Kevin laughed and Nazz quickly took the cupcake she had given Eddward from him so her best friend wouldn't end up wearing it as a hat.

 _"I can fix that,"_ Eddward growled and Kevin waggled his eyebrows at him which made him groan.

"Ugh," Eddy grimaced and Marie nodded in agreement.

Kevin looked around the table at his misfit friends, and while he was the only honest human in the place, as Nazz's position as Captain of the Rockwell Guard meant she went through a blood ritual that left her humanity somewhere between a every fighting animal known to man that would guard and protect Eddward's kingdom and her usual badass self, and Rolf's agelessness known only to the shaman himself, he knew that some things knew no respect of persons.

Flirting with a crush in front of mutual friends is bound to make someone annoyed or uncomfortable and he _loved it_.

"Not my fault he's old," the redhead shrugged and even his cousin shot him a _don't go there_ look.

 _Instantly,_ Eddward was in his head.

 _I may be old as you say, but I know so many, many things, Mr Barr._

 _Like what?!_

And he could have sworn he felt the gap in Eddward's teeth against his earlobe and the vampire's _cold_ hand down his pants.

 _Happy birthday to me!_

"I'm out!" Kevin shouted as he stormed out of the room and Eddward took a lick off of the frosting on the cupcake in Nazz's hand.

"I know where you live!"

* * *

As the moon rose high in the sky, Kevin stood on the edge of the castle wall and looked down into the quiet valley below.

Ed and Eddy were scampering after Edd as he walked through an open field, Kev by his side.

Nazz was getting reports from her men on the drawbridge.

Rolf was building a bonfire with Johnny and the Kanker sisters were readying their cauldron for a late night snack of mulled cider to keep warm over it.

Sarah and Jimmy were collecting wildflowers for potions and Kevin wondered if there was one to keep Eddward from _poking his brain._

 _Stop._

 _Why?_

 _Because it's annoying? Where the fuck are you anyways?_

"Meh."

"I hate you," Kevin shuddered when Eddward appeared next to him.

"No, you don't," the vampire grinned, a bit of blood on his teeth.

"You got some…," Kevin said quietly as he pointed at the right corner of his own mouth.

"Oops," the raven said sheepishly as he sucked his teeth. "You caught a nice one this time, though."

"Bear _is_ different, I guess," Kevin shrugged.

"You just want the rug for your room," Eddward snickered and Kevin gave him a confused look.

"FOR WHAT?!"

"If I have to tell you, I'm kicking your ass, Barr."

"Stay out of my head, Eddward."

Teasing blue locked with annoyed green and Eddward actually shuddered.

"I'm sorry," Eddward quickly said, finally realizing that he may have gone too far. "I shouldn't have pried."

"What are we doing, Edd?"

He looked into confused green eyes and wished he knew.

"I…I don't know…"

"What do you want to do?"

His _primal_ side jumped in Kevin's head so fast that _they both reeled._

 _"Jesus, Edd!"_ Kevin screamed as he felt so many feelings.

 _"SORRY!"_

 _"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"_ Kevin laughed as he shook _Eddward_ off of him.

 _"Uhuh…"_

He had only been joking, but seeing Eddward _crack,_ _scared him._

The last time Kevin saw him this upset, he was fighting Hell to get his brother back.

Then Eddward disappeared.

* * *

While Kevin should have been asleep, _he just couldn't._

It had been at least two hours since he saw him and while Eddward did slip in and out of their bonfire with their friends, Kevin knew something was up.

 _Eddward._

 _Go to sleep, Kevin._

 _And for the first time ever,_ he can reach him.

So to say he's _awake,_ was a bit of an understatement.

 _Edd._

 _What?_

 _Wanna talk about it?_

 _That I'm a selfish fool for…_

 _For what?_

 _I can't…_

 _Why not?_

 _Why do you care?!_

Where Eddward's _need_ to take a piece of the redhead across the castle to himself had flooded Kevin's conscience, Kevin's _want_ for being someone _special_ to him nearly knocked the raven out of his seat.

 _Kevin._

 _Heeeeeey, yooooooou._

 _Stop it._

 _Nah._

 _Why are you like this?!_

 _Why are YOU?!_

 _Because!_

 _Because why?_

 _You're a child._

 _Says the man who wants to fuck me like I should be having his puppies._

 _I'm a vampire. We don't have puppies._

 _Bats?_

 _Shut up, Kevin._

 _C'mon, dude. That was funny!_

 _Puppies?! Really?! I'm telling May and Ed on you!_

 _Why haven't they had puppies?_

 _Because Ed IS a puppy._

 _Makes sense. Wanna make a bat?_

 _…Kevin._

 _Yiiiissss?_

A moment later, Eddward was straddling his lap, the sheepish look in his eyes and the pounding of a low heartbeat filled his conscience.

"I...I d-don't want to ma-make a bat," he said shakingly. "That's not f-fucking possible."

"Then what?"

His heart betrayed his _everything_ as it opened his arms slightly for a hug and he found himself in an embrace so warm, so loving, that he cried.

 _"We can't…"_

 _"Why not?"_

 _"I can't lose you."_

"I'm not going anywhere, Eddward," Kevin said incredulously.

Eddward looked into a still young face, but saw where the crow's feet would start to crinkle around his eyes when he smiled, the early frown lines in his forehead, the permanent smile lines from his smirk and knew that while Kevin may always be 22 to him, someday he'd be 72 and then…

And then he spotted a small elixir jar on the nightstand.

It was purple, which is how all of Rolf's elixirs came packaged, but the blue cork _shook him._

 _"Is that…?"_

"I dunno, man," Kevin shrugged as he leaned his head on his shoulder. "Rolf's been giving it to me since I brought you home."

A relived look flooded Eddward's eyes as his irises went their primal red.

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna fuck you and then I'm gonna kill him," he growled as he shoved Kevin back into the bed.

"Uh, no!" The redhead fussed as he rolled them over. "First of all, I like that stuff. Makes me feel like a million bucks. Secondly, I have a _better_ idea."

Before Eddward could think, his arms were pinned above his head, perfect teeth gently nibbling his neck, and his sweat pants were being pulled away from a body that hadn't been _touched_ in damn near a century.

 _"Please, Edd."_

Being asked to come into Kevin's most intimate space terrified him, but he ran headlong into the part of his mind where _love_ lived.

It was warm and bright, but it didn't burn him.

There was a peace here like none he had ever felt before.

His walls fell, but he didn't feel empty.

He had always seen humanity's primal side from a violent point of view, where one had to protect themselves or die.

But in Kevin's arms, he was completely dominated and he didn't care.

He gave up every piece of himself and knew each piece would be safely tucked away and taken care of for _forever._

Where he had wanted to let out a physical aggression on the gorgeous redhead, Kevin reached inside and touched a place that had turned dark sometime between becoming Marie's _friend_ and then _losing it all._

He got his brother back and Marie was still his friend, but he had been so scared.

So very, very scared.

 _Not anymore._

A hazel _blazed_ in Kevin's irises and he's spellbound.

He fought Hell and somehow found love.

His voice was gone, but Kevin could interpret moans like Johnny read Planks runes.

Eddward was always told that because of who he was, he'd never experience Heaven.

But Heaven is what we make of it.

And for him, Heaven will always be with _him_.

Oh, blessed eternity, he could do this _forever…_


	7. Good

"It was for his own good!" Rolf tried to explain and it took _everything_ in Eddward not to rip the farmer's barn apart.

"He _helped_ me! Why would I _hurt_ him?!"

"Because he's _human,"_ Rolf retorted and Eddward rolled his eyes.

"For now."

"Does _he_ know that?"

"I…I don't know…"

"Then take him some more of this and do try not to kill him," Rolf shuddered as the image of a massive hickey on Kevin's collarbone that appeared the day after Eddward's birthday popped in his head again.

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

"Rolf gave you this," Eddward grinned as he waved the bottle of a protection elixir in Kevin's face and a grateful smile crossed his face as he snatched it way.

"Thanks, Old Man."

"You weren't saying that last night."

Kevin dramatically fell to the floor and Eddward snorted.

"Told ya I wasn't that old!"

* * *

Eddward sat at the edge of the lake and _waited._

"Had to scare some kids to sleep," Marie said as she ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"Ah, Christmas Eve," he snorted and she groaned.

"You smell like him," she said as she wrinkled her nose up at him.

"I kinda live with him, soooooo…"

"Yeah, yeah. How goes it?"

He looked into violet eyes and grinned.

"Ew, you're in love again!"

"Stop it! I am not!"

"What's his favorite cookie?"

"Dark chocolate chip."

"What's mine?!"

"Uhhh…"

"Son of a bitch, Eddward!" She laughed.

"My mother wasn't a _bitch,_ good madam," he intoned.

"And I'm not good nor a madam."

"Shut up, Marie."

"I'll shut up at the next no moon."

 _He had one week…_

* * *

"Eddward, I know when you're blocking me."

Eddward looked over at his brother and caught a cocked brow and worried blue eye from behind a sea of black.

"You need a haircut."

"And you need to _spill it, Buster."_

Kev sat back from the table a bit, ready to pin the two brothers to the wall if he needed to, but hoped he didn't.

* * *

It was Christmas Day and while they had spent most of the early evening with their friends, Eddward had been dourer than usual considering the holiday.

Edd knew immediately that something was on his mind, but played it off as the darkness of winter seeping into the coldest parts of him and told everyone to wait him out til spring.

He held Kevin's hand when the redhead offered it, but didn't even offer a snarky comment to Eddy's gag gift of matching _"I'm With Stupid"_ tshirts he had made for the eldest vampire and Kevin.

Rolf was ready to call forth an exorcism at that point, but Edd distracted them all with a game Never Have I Ever, which meant he and his brother spent a good two hours trying to one up each other's shenanigans.

His brooding grew after all the humans went to sleep and their cryptid friends snuck outside for some winter wonderland fun.

* * *

As was Rockwell-Vincent tradition, the brothers had dinner together, but since Kev was now Edd's husband, he got to come to dinner, too.

Most family dinners were spent discussing business, telling Kev stories, and making new plans with their friends.

But Kev knew that with Eddward's more thoughtful than normal disposition lately that something of great importance had to be discussed.

"I want to ask the Prince a favor at the dinner next week," he finally said and Edd shot him an exasperated look.

 _"Is that all?"_ He asked incredulously as he spread a pate of jellied pig's blood on a warm biscuit.

"I want…I want Kevin to be mine," he said quietly and a knowing grin shot across Edd's face as he gave his husband a wink.

"Such a sourpuss over love," Edd snickered but Eddward shook his head.

"Not like that…"

"Then whatOHMIGOD, EDDWARD!"

Stunned cyan met sheepish baby blue and when Edd _paled,_ Kev looked at the taller brother to _tell him_ to _explain_ himself but only felt empathy as he saw him crawl in on himself.

"I know…"

"DOES HE!?"

"WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP ASKING ME THAT?!" Eddward retorted as he ran a hand through his own long hair, ebony bangs flopping in front of his eyes like his defeated spirit.

"Oh, my God, he _doesn't,"_ Edd whispered as Eddward stood up from the table and started pacing. "Eddward, _look at me."_

The wound up man turned to his younger brother and was met with acceptance, but also caution.

"You have my blessing. _Our blessing, really._ But you kinda need to talk to the guy about this."

"Wha?" Kev uttered and Edd giggled.

"He wants to marry your cousin," he smiled and Kev shrugged.

"Ok."

 _"He wants to marry your cousin, Dear."_

As the words hung in the air, Eddward wanted to scream.

"Oh, shit."

 _"Yep,"_ the raven growled as he looked at the window at the waning moon. "Do you think the Prince will agree?"

"I know a guy who can take care of him if he doesn't."

"Edd."

"Yes, Eddward?"

"Just make sure Jimmy can clean up the mess," he sighed as he collapsed back into his chair and picked at Nazz's blueberry pie.

* * *

On New Year's Eve, Prince Marion of France came to Cherry Pines, West Virginia for the annual family reunion.

Marion's came down from Quebec to join their American Rockwell and Vincent cousins for a meeting where family business was shared, plans were made, favors asked for and accepted or declined.

Edd had been let off the hook for acquiring a ghoul without permission because of the circumstances he found himself in.

Considering the fact that he loved the man before his change and Kev's sacrifice was a purely selfless one, when Edd announced that he was marrying him, the Prince sent his congratulations and a bottle of his finest catch.

But Eddward's situation required a bit more _finesse._

* * *

He had found love, though neither spoke of it.

Their interactions were closer in public, the intimacy in private rivaled that of any pair of lovers you'd ever meet.

But Kevin was no hapless ghoul.

He was a _human_ who had been caught up between Heaven and Hell simply because his cousin and Eddward's brother decided to take a shortcut through the unincorporated part of the Peach County to get Kev back home to Lemon Brook after the car show at the Halloween festival.

There were no more shortcuts to be taken after that.

Every step was as thought out as possible. Even if so many were driven by their hearts that yearned to find _something_ with _someone_ that brought them _joy._

In order to keep the little bit of happiness Kevin had brought him, he'd need his founding father's permission.

At nearly 1500 years old, Prince Marion had damn near seen it all.

 _Literally._

So to say he was a hard sell was like saying water was wet and film for newscasts would be at 11PM.

* * *

As Eddward paced in his study and contemplated his private meeting with the head of his family, Kevin stood on the wall taking in Nazz's patrols.

There'd be no moon for the next two nights, making it easy for all the vampires to slip in undetected, but hunters would be out as well trying to quell the numbers of those that they thought didn't deserve to _live._

"She has it under control," Rolf said as he walked up to the turret Kevin was leaning on.

"She's good, that's for sure. I'm just making sure, _sure,_ ya know?"

Rolf shrugged but gave his friend a look that Kevin made a point to ignore.

"You take your medicine today?" The shaman asked as swarms of bats descended upon the castle.

"You know I did."

"Then you'll be good."


	8. Thicker Than Blood

"Thank you for your graciousness towards the coven tonight," Eddward said as Prince Marion's butler poured them each a glass of rich red wine and then left the room.

"Ce n'était rein," Prince Marion said with a wave of his hand, as he envisioned the Kanker sisters drizzling the blood of a few wayward politicians over their compost heap. "But there _is_ something on your mind, Young Eddward."

It took everything in Eddward to not roll his eyes at the man and jump into his head to give him a bit of whatfor as he exposed himself.

But then again, why else would he be here? No one asks for drinks over compost heaps!

"I have found a lover," he said flatly, as if this was nothing more than another familial business transaction he was keeping their _CEO_ of sorts abreast of.

"Hmm."

Ice blue met soft red, but Eddward didn't flinch.

 _You want in or not._

 _Un tel gosse._

 _Marion._

 _Un morveux petulant._

 _Sir._

 _Fine, show me._

And Eddward bared his heart.

A child who wasn't really allowed to be one, as being groomed into leadership simply because of his birth rank was his destiny, grew into a boy with friends, but those relationships were tenuous at best most of the time because of who he was and what was expected of him.

The boy took hold of his birthright, however, but it nearly killed his family.

A _traditional_ relationship didn't work out because he couldn't be what she wanted.

 _Le contraire n'attire pas toujours._

 _Non…_

 _Kevin. Kind, gentle, handsome, indeed._

 _Hey._

 _I only speak the truth, Eddward._

 _And I'll truthfully have your head on a spike if you don't back up off my boyfriend._

 _Does he know that?_

 _Shut up, Marion._

"Deux personnes différentes, un coeur."

Eddward blinked the tears out of his eyes and quickly took the handkerchief being offered to him.

"Thank you, and I _guess?"_

 _"Eddward."_

 _"I just…"_

"Don't we all," Prince Marion snorted. "You have done well with taking hold of our clan despite the circumstances. Your leadership has saved us and we will thankfully live on because of it."

"But what of children?"

"What of them?" The Prince shrugged. "You are surrounded by plenty of women folk who I am sure will be willing to do the hard work for you if you ask nicely and say pretty please."

Eddward placed his face in his right hand with a heavy sigh as the Prince sipped his drink with a smirk.

"You do have my blessing, though, Eddward," the patriarch said seriously as he set his glass down and looked his cousin in his pensive blue eyes. "I'd rather see you _happy_ than traditionally miserable or melancholically alone simply because of _children._ We may not have enough brats, but I'll risk our numbers if it means one less _you_ around."

Eddward shot him a look but the honest man shrugged.

"And you also may kinda want to talk to him about this."

Eddward chugged his wine with a groan, needing the soothing numbing effects of the alcohol to get his founder's _mind fuck_ out of his system and Prince Marion had a giggle at his young cousin's heart's expense.

* * *

Two days later, as the clock rolled to midnight and the holiday party kicked into high gear, Eddward's heart finally talked some sense into his damn silly head and he reached out for his heart's song.

 _Where are you?_

 _Tower three._

When the clock slowly chimed its way to midnight, Eddward shot to the roof of the tower Kevin was in.

"How's the party?" The eagle eyed ginger asked as he spotted a small band of hunters coming in from the southeast.

"They're rather drunk and happy," he sighed as he, too, saw the band of hunters coming for his family.

 _Wanna go hunting?_

 _You read my mind._

* * *

With Nazz, Rolf, and Ed in tow, they quickly laid waste to the hunters.

The blood drawn in would be gone by breakfast considering the crowd in the castle, but would be well appreciated because most of it was _human._

"I can't wait to show Marlie," Eddward giggled as he licked the blood off of his fingers. "The girls are getting their first taste of the real thing tonight!"

Kevin snickered a bit at his excitement before hacking off limbs to be properly butchered for Ed and the other werewolves in the area.

Seeing that the redhead was completely unfazed by the scene before him made Eddward question his sanity a bit, but it had been two years at this point, so maybe he had just gotten used to it.

 _But why?_

Kevin and Ed organized the kill and Ed and Rolf took it back as Nazz sent her men to take out a small patrol of hunting scouts to the west, giving Eddward a bit more to eat.

As the night rolled on and more hunters and scouts were obliterated, Eddward was torn between sending his family home with the spoils of the night, but just _couldn't_.

He knew he couldn't take it all himself, but didn't dare go to the part of his mind that told him why he would need it and soon.

* * *

Kevin heard the whoosh of his wings as he lightly landed on the roof of the tower behind him and snorted.

"Sir?"

A small rock hit the back of his head and Eddward tapped his tiny bat foot on another when the redhead looked up at him.

"Dork."

Kevin ducked, but the rock pinged off his shoulder before hitting the ground so he did a tiny dance of victory anyways and Kevin shook his head.

"What's up?"

Eddward stretched himself into his human form and Kevin saw that he had changed before coming back out again.

His formal suit had been destroyed in their hunt, so jeans and a hoodie would do well for the rest of the night.

"I like midnight hunts, but I love midnight kisses better."

 _"Oh."_

"Indeed," Eddward said lowly before dragging him back into the tower and letting Kevin into his mind and controlling his very will.

* * *

 _What is this place, Eddward?_

 _Home._

It was a simple place.

A small yellow house in a green valley, rich with fresh clover, horses and a few cows roamed the land that surrounded them.

A creek cut through the back of the property and a path to it led to waterfall and clear pool to play and fish in.

The road in front of the house led to town and to family and friends near and far.

 _All he needed was him._

 _Is this real?_

 _As long as you stay it will be…_

 _But I'm not…_

 _Stay._

 _I am._

 _STAY._

* * *

The castle's main tower clock struck 3AM, and the call for the changing of the guard rang throughout the castle's towers and turrets.

"Tell them I'm _busy,"_ Kevin ordered.

 _"Busy?"_

"I have to _stay_ here with _you."_

Instantly, Eddward whisked them away to his room, the order sent out and received with sheer joy.

The canopy on the bed was drawn closed, the whole of the universe blocked away from their unification, the blessings of Eddward's people on them, and an old love song Kevin's mother used to sing around the house playing on repeat in their hearts…

 _You're all I need to get by…_

"You know there's no going back?" Eddward said as he was drawn into strong arms.

"Have I left you yet?"

"Every day."

"Explain my sleepless nights."

"I'm so sorry."

"Make it up to me."

 _Black_ locked with _blazing_ hazel and what should have _terrified_ him made his spirit _soar._

* * *

Risk with no reward is foolishness, but sometimes, removing the risk all together makes the reward all the better.

He never wanted to lose him, now he wouldn't ever have to.

"This is gonna hurt you more than it hurts me," Eddward growled as the power he held back to spare humanity came forth like a tsunami.

 _"Burn me."_

* * *

The closest he had ever come to this was sensing the end of Marie's cycle when they were much younger and the need to _mate_ took over him.

She didn't stop him because she didn't want him to as it all just felt so _good,_ but when it was over she was ready to go study some runes with Johnny and Sarah and he just wanted to be held.

And so their struggle began; for them each to be so fluent in various foreign languages, they couldn't speak each other's _love_ language, so they stopped talking.

But time is eternal and because they were stuck in the infinity loops of wibbly and wobbly, they came to an _understanding,_ but it broke a piece of himself that he was scared would never be whole again.

* * *

His father remarked that she would make the perfect _mate,_ only there to bring forth children.

But he needed a _partner._

Someone who was there to be his eyes and ears when he couldn't see the forest for the trees or hear songbird over the song of its people.

To be a sounding board and a friend.

To hold him when he was too weak to stand and to hold his flower when he had to go kick some ass.

To love him and take all he had to give just for themselves.

 _I love you._

 _I love you, too._

* * *

Kevin never knew that Death could feel so damn good.

Sharp nails clawed at his back, holding onto muscles ravaging against the supernatural before giving in to Death's sweet embrace as his life was drained away, but he also came to _life._

It could have been because as the vampire sucked his life away, he gave him the Spirit of Life itself to heal his wounds, but because she was a spirit, her hold was fleeting, leaving them stuck for eternity between Life and Death.

But he was sure it was because Eddward had taken complete control over his body and was making him feel like he always wanted Eddward to feel.

 _Loved._

Pinned to the bed, he could do nothing but hold on to the vampire who made him his own.

* * *

Eddward had fought the dark for so long, that the blinding light Kevin was drawing him in had him dizzy.

He had been warned his entire life that turning a human into _anything not human_ can kill the host and leave the human in a state that no one was expecting.

Which was why any changes were only permitted by special permission and ceremonies, some so extensive that Eddward had always promised himself that if he _ever_ fell in love, the person had better be ready for _Life,_ as he didn't want a blood pawn, but a _soulmate._

This was why letting Marie go hurt him for _decades_. If he hadn't met Kevin, he was sure he'd never have gotten over the pain she caused him through no real fault of her own besides the fact that they just weren't compatible.

Love was a different ballgame, though, and helped you focus.

* * *

Breathing was synced, heartbeats regulated.

Thoughts patternized.

Sentences finished.

A moan of the name _only Kevin_ called him cut through the fog his body was in and he slowly came back to reality.

Never had he felt so _alive and exhausted_ at once.

He heard a roar, felt _heavy_ scratches down his back, and a bite to his neck that sent him _flying._

When he came back to earth, he wanted nothing more than to curl up next to Kevin and _sleep._

They vaguely heard the 6AM call for the changing of the guard as Eddward curled himself under large red wings and _slept like the dead._


	9. StayEdd

**Author's Note: HUGE thank you to Auntie Shara for his help with all the vampire lore that I only barely used because I'm a lameo, but I _think_ it worked out! YAY!**

 **This is the last chapter of this story! Thanks for hanging out with me!**

 **Love you!**

 _ ***Happy All Hallows Eve***_

The next night, Kevin woke up feeling like his body was on fire, but also _cold._

And everything was _upside down._

He honestly didn't know how he got perched at the top of the canopy of Eddward's bed, the haze of what happened last night was fading and he couldn't make out anything except he knew the man he came to _help_ loved him and he would never leave his side because he loved him, too.

But hunger was more powerful than anything and he weakly fell to the bed, cradling Eddward as he did so.

 _Oof._

 _And now you know why I sleep in this bed_

 _But I swear I've never seen you sleep upside down!_

No matter how soft the bed was, a six foot fall is not comfortable. Especially when you land on your head.

 _Practice, my dear._

 _Show me!_

 _I will._

 _And he did._

* * *

Over dinner, Prince Marion granted Kevin and Eddward all the basic rights and privileges of life mates in the clan, and told Kevin to not rush anything.

It wasn't until spring that everyone figured out what he meant.

An elder vampire turning someone so young was bound to bring up _permanent_ feelings, and despite the promises they made to each other across space and time during Kevin's change, the redhead wanted a name change, ring, and a wedding.

And he wanted them, _like, yesterday,_ but NOW works, too!

"We have eternity, Kevin," Eddward would say over and over again and Kevin wondered what the heck was _wrong_.

Nearly everyone in the Rockwell and Vincent clans would quickly marry once the Prince approved of the relationship.

Edd and Eddward's parents were married on the spot by the Prince himself as soon as he granted his cousin his approval of joining her sarcastic and sassy, moody clan with the dark, brooding Rockwells under the Marion name.

It was a grand business venture to say the least as both sides had plenty of money and land to move around between them, but love was there.

 _So much love..._

Kevin was sure there might have been _tomes_ of paperwork involved because Edd was always shoving something under Kev's nose to sign, but if they had _eternity,_ why not just get the important thing out of the way _now_ and let the paperwork fall where it may?

Namely in a fire because Kev was exasperated by it all.

 _"Vampires have killed the rainforest,"_ he would complain as he spent many an evening signing another piece of eternity away while Edd read and organized more paperwork in front of a low fire, a glass of whatever the small raven had caught that night sustaining them through the tedious project.

But Edd wasn't Eddward and _something_ was holding his man back.

When they would sleep, he saw nothing but a peaceful yellow house in Eddward's conscience.

When they made love he felt nothing but _love._

 _Still…_

* * *

When faced with eternity, you want to do things _right_.

Your second chances aren't really that when you have _forever,_ just another turn to see what insanity feels like.

And the last thing Eddward wanted to do was slip paperwork under his lover's nose for the next 500 or so years.

He gave his man his reassurances as he ran back and forth between Paris and Nice in France, Montreal, Peach Creek, and Lemon Brook.

It took him 150 years, but the day the ring was removed from the forge in Dublin, he _finally_ felt that his father's soul was at peace.

* * *

The night he came _home_ was like any other warm fall night.

The _Indian Summer_ was holding on in their cool mountain home, and their friends were in town to take a much needed breather from their busy lives in their small hometowns.

 _I'm home._

 _About time! What's up?_

 _I have something for you…_

Three _very loud_ taps resounded on the main window to his study and he let a large red bat into the space, snickering as Kevin fell off the ledge to the window, over a small bookshelf, and onto the floor as he turned back into _himself._

"I'm ok!" He grinned as he popped up and Eddward laughed. "I swear to God, I'll _never_ get used to _that!"_

"I see," Eddward chuckled as he was pulled into a needed hug. "Sit."

Kevin spun him around to his desk chair and scampered to the other side. When he sat down, Eddward pulled a large file, about five inches thick, and a small white ring box out of his briefcase.

"It's all I have," he said quietly. "And I want to share it with you."

When Kevin opened the file, he saw that it read like a business report.

 _Concerning The Estate of The Rockwell Clan_

 _As Governed by Prince Marion of Paris, France_

 _Eddward Marion Rockwell, Lord and Executor_

Eddward poured him a glass of unmated buck to sip on while he read the file, then busied himself with checking the business of life that happened while he was away.

* * *

A moonless, but star filled sky looked down on them when Kevin was finally done reading the file.

Eddward felt a cool hand tug his right hand away from the keyboard he was hunched over and when Kevin held it to his lips, he nodded.

 _Ready?_

 _God, yes._

The slice from Kevin's tooth didn't _hurt,_ but he had to stay himself.

Feeling Kevin _taste him_ usually lead to them falling from somewhere up high, to something soft below the next night, so to say that _now_ wasn't the time, was a bit of an understatement.

"Your turn," Kevin teased as he wiggled the fingers of his right hand in Eddward's face and the elder caught Kevin's finger in the gap in his teeth with a predatory grin that Kevin answered with a smirk.

 _Focus._

 _You focus!_

Eddward willed himself from going for the beautiful blue vein in Kevin's slightly freckled neck and sliced his finger as per the instructions at the end of the file.

 _By blood signature, Eddward Marion Rockwell and Kevin Anthony Barr resolve for eternity to share in all of the privileges and responsibilities of a life united in Clan Rockwell as joint leaders, serving and being served, side by side._

A blood signature required a drop of blood from the index finger of your right hand, but considering that both of their names were on the document, the blood needed to be mixed and quickly signed with a hawk quill first by the blood clan member, and then their spouse, betrothed, or ghoul depending upon the document.

Despite the slightly orgasmic blood draw, the signing was a bit anticlimactic.

* * *

"That's it?" Kevin whined when Eddward filed the document away to be sent to Paris and Prince Marion first thing the next night.

When Eddward pointed to the box still on the desk, Kevin peered at in mild surprise.

"Don't I _always_ bring you back something?" Eddward grinned and Kevin rolled his eyes.

He's gotten three boats fishing boats, four yachts, a half a dozen castles scattered throughout Europe, dozens of motorcycles, and just as many cars and trucks, too, from Eddward's trips away and even more bracelets, watches, furniture, and clothes.

The candy company the Rockwell's ran kept them well taken care of, but all Kevin ever really wanted was _Eddward._

When he opened his gift, he _finally_ _saw_ that Eddward wanted him, too.

In the small box, set against red satin, was a black steel ring inlaid with an emerald from Iran. But the protective embossing of Celtic knots above the emerald, united by a fleur-de-lis in the center of the ring, gave _him_ a protective covering not unlike when Eddward was in his arms, except this was _just for him._

 _Misty green met soft blue._

 _I…_

 _This is all I have._

 _I just want you._

Instantly, Eddward was in his lap, the tears on the raven's face being covered in kisses and _I love yous._

"I should have asked you this 150 years ago," Eddward said quietly once he calmed down. "But will you spend the rest of your life with me, however short or long that may be?"

"Hmm."

Eddward felt a soft _something_ land on his head and cocked an impressive brow at Kevin's ability to have some control over some of his powers.

He pulled the small black box off of his head, opened it, and laughed til he cried.

And then he just sobbed.

Nestled in crushed blue velvet, set in black steel, a band of blue sapphire _glimmered_ against a small rim of mother of pearl on either side of it.

"How long?!" He cried and Kevin took his chin into his hand as he whispered, _"One hundred and forty nine years."_

 _I…_

 _I love you._

 _Stay._

 _Always._

* * *

There was no _ceremony_ , they just traded rings and kisses in Eddward's study til midnight and Nazz called for a midnight snack before she went on her first real patrol of the night and Kevin _flew_ into the kitchen to _demand_ cake and show off his new ring.

The silly apparition that was his mother rattled her rosary in much relief and Eddward nearly pulled her back from The Great Beyond to chide her about her teasing, but St Peter whisked her away and told him to stay out of Heavenly Affairs.

"What?! Like it's hard?!" He yelled into the ceiling Alma Barr disappeared into and Kevin couldn't help himself.

 _I'll show you what's hard._

 _What?_

"I hate you," Eddward groaned as he shook his husband's _red hot_ mind off of himself and Rolf insisted that he _bless_ them before Kevin did _that_ again so they could _do it_ as God and humanity intended.

"But we're not human!" Kevin protested to the shaman who was having none of it.

"Promise _me_ and _everyone_ here that you'll _kill_ each other first before you _ever_ consider parting ways," Rolf said seriously as he tapped them both three times on the head with his walking staff.

"I kinda think we have to," Kevin muttered and Kev nodded.

"Section 65.2.3-7 of the Marital Contract states that you have to have a saber duel as a last resort before going before the Rites and Rituals Council to ask that your relationship be undone. First to draw blood is free," the smol redhead sighed having memorized certain sections of the file Kevin had gotten in one fell swoop because Edd kept _remembering_ that he had more to add to their paperwork before it was all truly _done._

Eddward made a mental note to just let him copy he and Kevin's file so the poor man's left hand could take a _break._

 _"PROMISE!"_ Rolf said as he gave them each a solid whack on the head.

 _"We promise!"_ Eddward pouted as he rubbed his now sore noggin that Kevin smooched as he shoved the satisfied shaman away.

"Excellent," the shaman said with finality. "Where's the cake?"

"I'm going to be single _forever,"_ Marie said firmly before knocking back a shot of Lee's best fermented gruel and Nazz laughed til she cried.

"Good luck with that!" She giggled before kissing the newlyweds goodnight and skipping out of the kitchen.

"Stay out of the stables, Nazz!" Kevin called after her.

"I make no promises!" She yelled back and Marie shook her head.

"That girl crazy."

Eddward cocked a brow at his own crazy lady and she shrugged.

"Time to go be a creature of the night," she announced and Sarah and Jimmy skipped after her to see what the rest of their _day_ was going to bring.

Kevin drew his love into a hug as the rest of their friends and family buzzed around them with their own plans, life moving on.

A small cake was produced and Ed ate half of it while Kevin and Eddward took to the skies.

* * *

There was a small hideaway that only they knew about near the waterfall that fed into the waterways that gave Peach Creek and Lemon Brook their names.

A weeping willow that was fed by the small underground spring that was the waterfall's _start,_ covered a small clearing where they would go to to clear their heads, spend some quiet time together, or watch the stars fall.

Kevin led the way to their spot, pulling Eddward under his wing when they got to the tree and nestled down on the branch that was strong enough to hold them both, but still had enough sway to give them the _swing_ they wanted.

Teeny, tiny happy chirps squeaked out of the black bat as he cuddled up to his husband and the wind gave them a push.

 _So you're mine now?_

 _Always._

 _Do you think we can start our own clan now?_

 _Just as long as Nazz stays out of the stables._

 ** _The End_**


End file.
